My Guardian Angel
by Shika-E.S.W
Summary: Naruto has two big secrets:he is a she and Kyuubi, but what happens if someone knows about her secrets. Naruto has someone helping her,yet doesnt know who. Are their intentions good or evil? And what happens when Akastuki find out? FemNaru/Shika.
1. Silent Shadows

**Disclaimer: I Do Not own Naruto!**

**This is my first Shik/FemNaru fanfic. people make suggestions if you don't like the chapter!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

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A young shinobi lay on the green grass of a hillside, gazing up lazily, at the fluffy white clouds above, with his deep onyx eyes. He had his hands under his pineapple shaped head; his black hair was tied tightly in a high pony tail, which spiked up at the end. Although a shinobi, the boy appeared very relaxed and unguarded, with no visible weapons on his attire. A breeze crossed the hillside blowing the males hair, letting loose strands fall upon his face, covering his soft features.

Closing his eyes he listened to the surrounding sounds of the village, taking everything in and picturing the villagers every movements, their very words and actions coming to mind. Yet he frowned as he heard harsh whispering, the sounds of objects being thrown, he had heard this sound before, he had pictured the movements, heard the words spat…and he had found out who the anger was directed at and knew why it was so. He didn't like it, yet he couldn't do anything about it, and he hated the fact with passion. No matter how troublesome a situation, he always helped a friend out when they're in a time of need, yet he could do nothing but watch and pick up the pieces left behind.

Shikamaru stood up and dashed off towards a clearing where he knew the young blonde would be, after something like this. Shikamaru would always watch her clam herself in her own way. Stopping short in front of a large crystal blue lake, the sunlight reflected off it, earning shining twinkles of light. He hid up in the foliage gazing down as he saw the young blonde coming through the thick forest, in her normal disguise. It was a procedure he followed almost every time this happened, he would always look over the blonde in disguise releasing her anger and hurt, when she was done she would usually pass out, and he would carry her back to her apartment, putting up the genjutsu again.

Shikamaru learnt long ago that Naruto was in fact a girl, although he never did tell anyone about it, not even the girl herself, knowing it would bring trouble and problems would arise, not only for him but for her as well. He watched as the blonde dispelled the genjutsu, the loud male knucklehead disappeared, and was replaced by a young female one. Her shoulder length golden hair glistened in the sunlight, her bangs falling atop her brows. Long lashes framed her big cerulean eyes, three faint whisker-marks on each cheek hidden by a natural blush, she had a small soft curved nose, that rested atop her small plump rosy lips.

The figure was wearing a purple tank-top today with a black mesh shirt over it showing off her well developed figure and nicely developed curves, she wore long black baggy pants that hung limply from her hips, her head banned tied loosely around her waist and had standard black shinobi sandals. Her weapons pouch hanging from a loosely done up belt she wore on her pants.

Shikamaru sat watching, entranced by the young figure beneath him, following every step, every movement she took across the shimmering lake before him. He watched her dance to some unknown music, no matter how many times he saw it, it always caught him by surprise, and the way she would float across the lake, her arms flowing with every step she took. The crystal water below rippled as she stepped across the surface, her eyes glistened with small tears that trailed down her face, melting into the liquid surface below. Shikamaru's eyes softened at the sight, he tightened his fist in anger, sorrow filled his eyes looking away from the sight, he let his hand hang limply at his side. Looking back to the small figure below he let her movements wash over him, feeling every emotion she portrayed as she danced atop the liquid.

Almost a hour later, the young figure collapsed from exhaustion and charka depletion, Shikamaru dashed towards her and caught her just before hitting the water below, as the girl slipped into unconsciousness. He sighed in relief and sadness, looking down at the girl he carried bride-style in his arms, he walked back towards slid ground, and gently laying her down he brushed the golden strand of hair out of her flawless features. Sighing with sorrow again he preformed multiple numbers of hand seals, before whispering something incomprehensible. A young male blonde now lay beneath him, picking up said 'male' blonde he dashed off towards 'his' apartment before anyone saw what happened.

ooooo

Setting the blonde down on 'his' rusty bed, Shikamaru turned around and glanced at a nearby clock, he cursed mentally he was late again. His sensei was starting to get suspicious, glancing back at the blonde, he let a smile grace his features, it was worth it. This was the only thing he could do for his friend, he needed to help and he would keep helping, after-all if he didn't then who would, as far as he knew no one knew that Naruto was, in reality, a girl, not to mention the fact that she had to go through all this suffering alone. Shikamaru sighed, before muttering something about troublesome blondes who don't know how to take care of themselves, before taking one more glance at the blonde he smirked, he didn't mind so much though. With that last thought in his mind he dashed out of the complex, on his way to meet up with his team members.

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Naruto woke up to find her self back in her apartment, this was the hundredth time, and still counting, time this has happened. She ran over to the mirror and found that, like all the other times her genjutsu had been put back into place. She was a unnerved that someone had discovered her secret, even more so when she didn't know who the person was. Yet at the same time she couldn't help but have that little hope in the back of her mind, saying that maybe someone was doing this because they cared about her. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she thought, maybe just maybe their was someone out their that she could depend on. Although she never wanted to get her hopes up, so she locked the thoughts away not wanting to get her spirit crushed when she found out about the brutal truth that they didn't care and were doing it for their own benefit.

Tears threatened to fall as she thought about this, but she willed them away, looking at the small clock on her side table she realised she was late, very late for her team meeting. Running out of the apartment, she locked the door (not that it helped, but still) and dashed away towards team seven's meeting place. Upon reaching said area, immediately put up her normal façade, "Konichiwa Sakura-chan!" 'He' called running towards his team mates while waving ecstatically, Sakura turned around furious, Naruto rolled her eyes inwardly, '_here we go'_ she thought, still running and waving. Sakura took a deep breath, Naruto channelled chakra towards her ears blocking out all sounds, so when Sakura shrieked at how late Naruto was she did not hear a thing. Sasuke on the other hand was not so lucky and got full blast of the horrible sound, wincing at the sheer volume of her voice he would not be surprised if he went deaf.

"Aw but Sakura-chan" She pretended to whine to her 'crush'. Sakura screamed something else that the blonde didn't hear just before a 'poof' resounded in the area and clouds of smoke engulfed the three. Waiting for the smoke to clear Sakura looked her sensei straight in the eye "Yo" he said before everyone grabbed their ears in pain as Sakura screeched "YOU'RE LATE!" so loud the whole of Konoha heard, and were NOT at all thankful. Back with team seven Sakura was currently fuming at a bored looking Kakashi who found he could ignore her by reading his beloved porn. Which left Sasuke and Naruto to go off to train on their own, desperate to get away from the screaming banshee; even if, Naruto shivered at the mere thought of it, it meant that they had to work together.

Leaving the disturbing scene behind them, both came entered a tree infested forest and picked a location far from the bridge, so that they could not hear the pink haired girl screech. The two 'boys' faced each other, getting into different stances. A small green leaf floated down from the foliage above, seconds passed both 'males' faced stared at each other, not breaking eye contact even to blink. The tip of the leaf touched the ground below, both 'boys' shot forward.

(A/N: I'm not bothered to write the fight, it's too troublesome, basically Sasuke beat Naruto…although Naruto might have not gone all out in the fight due to her mind being on another topic other then the fight)

Both figures lay side by side panting, "I win, again, Dobe" Sasuke panted, "That was, just, dumb luck, teme" Naruto panted back, Sasuke snorted "In your dreams Dobe" Naruto wasn't in the mood to argue so she just let it be and closed her eyes. It was getting dark out, they had been sparing for hours, she turned towards her comrade on her right "Hey, teme?" Sasuke grunted he had closed his eyes as well, "What's your favourite food?" She asked, Sasuke turned to face her, his eyebrow raised as if to say 'what the hell?' but replied nonetheless "…Strawberries" Naruto turned back to face him, a surprised look on her face "I always thought you were a tomatoes type…strawberries huh" Sasuke smiled as Naruto thought this out loud.

Their was a short silence before Naruto broke it, "Oi teme, you're meant to ask me what mine favourite food is" She murmured quietly, Sasuke with his eyes still closed said "I already know your favourite food, ramen" He replied simply, Naruto shook her head, then realised he could not see her "nope" She replied which made Sasuke looked at her in shock, she smiled at him "It's red apples" Sasuke blinked blankly taking the new information in. He then smirked "Dobe" he said before closing his eyes and resting his head in his palms. Naruto smiled turning towards Sasuke and curling into a ball "Don't call me that, teme" She said meakly, Sasuke grunted in reply, it wasn't long before both fell into a deep sleep. Atop the tree tops lay a figure unnoticed by both of them, looking down at the blonde he watched over "Goodnight, Naru-chan" he whispered softly his voice carried away in the night's breeze that drifted across Konoha.

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**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto…..(sigh this is such a drag)**

**Hope you liked it!**

**Review people!**


	2. New Acquaintances

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto….or any of the other characters…if I did a LOT of things would be different….but I'm don't soo yeah…..moving on!**

**Hello everyone as you can see, I'm back!....for now (dodges rotten vegetables)…but I will deliver more of my stories for you! (gets hit square in the face with a boot, eye twitch) You just can't please anyone anymore…(walks away).**

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Naruto rolled over in her sleep, and grabbed the huggable thing next to her, snuggling deep into its warmth, she tightened her grip on it and enjoyed the welcoming felling it brought. She snuggled deeper into it a small smile on her face, she felt the warmth leave her, she frowned her eyes still closed she reached out for the warmth that had left her, her frown deepened when it did not return. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and too a peek at her surroundings, cerulean eyes met the green environment she lay in.

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**A/N: She's still got her genjutsu on! (For all the dumb people out there it means that she still looks like a boy, not a girl).**

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Naruto blinked, then blinked again before shooting up and looking around wildly, this wasn't her room, hearing a movement behind her she whipped around, only to meet Sasuke's gaze, amusement already dancing in his eyes and about to crack into his features. Naruto's memories started to return to her, she blushed crimson as she realised what she had just done, "ano…." _'crap! I'm going to be hearing about this all year if I don't do something quick!'_ **'With a brain your size you wouldn't be able too find your way out of your own apartment, which I know you have difficulty doing'** _'Kyuu? You have to help me please'_ In his cage Kyuubi yawned, he sighed why oh why did Yondaime seal him into something so stupid. **'No'** he said simply, laughing off the petty insults that she threw at him.

"Naruto…" Sasuke started, Naruto carefully put her head up to meet his gaze, their eyes locked with each others "ano…" Naruto started again but was stopped by Sasuke, "You hug things in your sleep?" he asked simply his voice cracking from trying to hold his laughter back. Naruto pouted angrily, crossing her arms she turned slightly to the right "So what teme?" she huffed sticking her nose in the air. Sasuke could not hold back the laugh that escaped his wide plump pink lips, he chuckled at Naruto's childishness, Naruto turned around back to him a blush on her face "Nani?! It's not funny! Why are you laughing?!" She shouted crawling over to him and stopped just inches away. She kept shouting at him, while he was now in full blown laughter clutching his stomach, he couldn't help it, he just loved to tease Naruto.

The small blonde had stopped shouting and watched Sasuke laugh, her face was crimson due to her blushing and tiring herself out from shouting. Once Sasuke had clamed down he looked over to Naruto and lay his hand on top of her head, leaning down he ruffled his hair a bit all the while softly saying "I won't tell anyone". Naruto looked up from the ground in disbelief, but it washed away once she met Sasuke's eyes. His soft smile still lay in place she returned the smile, a genuine smile, a smile only Sasuke ever got to see, because he was her best friends, her rival, her most trusted brother.

High above the pair, beyond the large tree branches, the sanctuary of birds, squirrels and plant life, up in the canopy lay resting a figure, his hands behind his head with a toothpick in his mouth, his eyes closed and facing the clear baby blue sky. The voices below travelled up ahead meeting his ears, a small smirk settled across his face, he peered down from one eye and focused on the blond figure, before glancing at the other. _'Tch, hurry up and figure it out, I know your smarter and stronger then you lead on'_ The figure watched on for a few seconds "you better protect her when I'm not there Uchiha…it'd be too troublesome to kill you if you don't" he whispered softly, his words carried away by the soft breeze and with that he vanished from view.

Sasuke's sharp senses picked up the movement from above his head shot up searching the trees for any sign or movement, he heightened his sense of vision, sound and scent. _'Nothing…was it just my imagination? No, ninja's must go with their instincts, someone was here'_ Just then two leaves came floating down from the tree tops, Sasuke narrowed his eyes calculating what he had just saw, wondering…._ 'it was definitely a ninja, to be able to conceal their presence to such an extent, and to be able to hide their scent as well as being able to keep out of sight….who was this person? No what I should be asking is why…why would they be here? It could not have been a mere coincidence'_ Sasuke gazed down at a now silent Naruto, who was gazing at the clouds above the earths atmosphere, his gaze softened, he wondered when was she going to tell him about her true self on her own.

He had enough trouble trying to get rid of any evidence that she left behind that might lead to someone finding out her secret, it wasn't such an easy job either, apparently the village held some sort of grudge against Naruto….if that was her name. Sasuke held back a sigh that pleaded to escape his lips. "Come on Naruto lets go." He sighed, getting up and dusting his shorts off. Naruto looked up from where she was laying squinting from the suns glare, "Nani? Nade?" confusion spreading across her feature, Sasuke just sighed, why did she have to be so dense? He thought trying to think up a believable lie. "Because Kakashi and Sakura will be curious as to why we didn't return the whole day, they might even send squads out to look for us thinking something might have happened, remember Naruto this is the ninja world where anything and everything is possible." He replied dully, satisfied with his half lie, Naruto flushed with anger and embarresment. "Teme! I knew that, I was just testing you, yeah that's right, I was just testing you" Sasuke sweatdropped, before laughing softly, putting his hands in his pockets his turned back to her "Come on dobe let's go…the faster you follow the faster you get ramen, I'm buying"

Naruto took the image of a fox her ear picked up so high at the sound of ramen Sasuke thought they were going to fly off, and he could practically see her tail wagging out behind her. "Then what are we waiting for? LET'S GO!" She cried pumping the air and moving at unimaginable speed (even for ninja's) she dragged Sasuke along with her, heading for Ichiraku. Sasuke just laid back and enjoyed the ride knowing that he had no way of ever being able to slow her down let alone stop her. '_Naruto…your just too predictable…most of the time'_ He re-thought what he jus thought….she's never predictable. Why he even thought that she was he will never know sighing he looked up at her, her eyes sparkled at the treat awaiting her, her blonde hair being tussled in the wind. She had an ever so big grin on her face, Sasuke smiled, he wanted, no needed to protect that smiling face, besides what were big brothers for? Sasuke smirked "Oi, dobe no more then six bowls" Hey, he was a brother, not a money bank. Naruto looked back at Sasuke still running, a shocked and appalled expression spreading on her features "B-but teme, the ramen! You expect me to hold back!" Sasuke smirked "Unless you don't want any yes I expect you to hold back" Naruto narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth , then turned away pouting still running. Sasuke chuckled at her antics, "shut up it's not funny! You're depriving me of my sweet, sweet ramen" She cried sounding as if the world had come to an end, Sasuke laughed "You'll live" Naruto glared at him bickering about how he should be tortured by the Shinigami himself, Sasuke kept laughing at the insults being thrown at him.

Team ten who had just passed by looked on at the pair in shock and confusion, while Shikamaru who had taken his usual bored stance smirked _'So you have figured it out, tch, troublesome Uchiha's….keep her safe when I can't Sasuke'_. Shikamaru brought everyone out of their musings with a loud yawn and a mumble of the word 'troublesome'. Clearing his throat "so back to training" Asuma said, Ino groaned, Choji just said he was still hungry while Shikamaru replied with a lazy 'troublesome'.

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**Well hope you liked it, plzz I need to know what I can improve with this coz this is the first time I've written a Shika/Naru story, any advise would be fine anyway hope you liked the story. Sorry for not updating sooner.**

**Anyway ja ne**


	3. New Rivals

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, yada yada yada, blah, blah, blah and we're done. Moving on.**

**OK, here I am officially back in business….I really don't know where to go from here…**

**So Enjoy! XD**

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A young female lay against a large broad oak tree her pink hair swayed in the mid-summers breeze, she sighed waiting for her team members, they were late once again, she did not understand why she bothered coming on time when everyone else was going to come almost three hours later with nothing but their lame excuses, they had even corrupted her precious Sasuke-kun. She had been waiting for little over three hours now, it was more then a few seconds later that she got an anime vain pop on top of her forehead, gritting her teeth she let out an angry growl before letting her frustration out and screaming bloody murder to the surrounding environment.

"**WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY!!"**

Was what was heard all over Konoha the peaceful atmosphere was broken every civilian turned their head to find the source of the noise, yet found none, every animal went back to the safety of their homes. Hiding from the unknown evil presence that was radiating over the Village of the Leaves, back in team sevens training ground a massive crater was now in sight next to the oak tree and in front of Sakura who was still fuming. Just then a silver haired man _'poofed'_ into existence in front of her, Sakura jumped back with a scream, clutching her chest, recovering quickly she pointed and shrieked in a voice that would make anyone go deaf "DON'T DO THAT!...AND YOU"RE LATE!!" Kakashi sweatdropped. Ignoring her he turned to expect to see his other students only to find them no where in sight instead he found half the field destroyed. Kakashi looked back at Sakura who was still ranting, his eyebrow twitched a little, how could someone so small do such damage? Well it'll come in handy for the upcoming chunin exams…should he tell them that he entered them in it? Nah, they'll find out sooner or later, for now he needed to find his other _precious_ students.

"Sakura where are Naruto and Sasuke?" Sakura shot him a dirty glare, "How should I know, I can barely find Sasuke-kun these days," She whined looking down, before shooting her head up and giving Kakashi another glare, Kakashi smiled nervously "They probably caught that nasty habit of your's, I swear to God Kakashi if you've unperfected my Sasuke-kun, I hunt you down like the dog you are and beat you to a bloody pulp before ripping you intestines out and hanging you with it, and then I'll untie you and beat you again before throwing your body off a cliff, are we clear" by this time Sakura was right up close to Kakashi and glaring so hard it rivalled an Uchiha's glare. Kakashi laughed nervously '_unperfected? Is their such a word_', zipping out of Sakura's clutches he headed for safe ground, kneeling on the floor he looked back at his student '_such power, not to self, never introduce Sakura to Tsunade-hime_'.

"Maa Sakura, don't be like that, you know Sasuke always takes his training seriously…"`

"…So that's why I'm asking myself whether we should bother taking training seriously anymore." A dark haired male appeared from the surrounding thick foliage, walking alongside a young male blond, who was nodding in understanding "Yeah, I guess you're right Sasuke-teme, I mean if Kakashi-sensei isn't taking our training seriously then why should we" he replied with a shrug. Both males looked up ahead to see a cowering Kakashi and a fuming Sakura, Kakashi was lying on the floor inching back away from Sakura who was towering over him, sweat dripped down from his face, while Sakura was engulfed in flames. "Maa, c-come on Sakura-chan, you know they didn't mean it…heh heh S-sakura?…..please don't kill me" was the only thing he said before he shot up and ran away from the young female, only to have her chase him around the field. Sakura screaming bloody murder and destroying anything that got in her way of crushing Kakashi, while said jounin had taken his chibi form and was screaming for his life hands in the air and strips of tears flying behind him as he ran.

Back to Naruto and Sasuke both laughed and gave each other a hi-5, up in the tree's Shikamaru sighed a little before giving a little chuckle. Checking his watch he cursed as he realised that he was once again late to training, gathering his things he disappeared from the venue unheard, unseen, untouched, un-...smelt? Whatever he just got out without being discovered okay, Naruto clutched her stomach as she laughed, collapsing on the floor she finally calmed down before looking back up at Sasuke who was still chuckling at the sight of Kakashi being beaten by his student (A/N: yes I know, I have a crude sense of humour no one needs to tell me) a warm sensation spread through her chest, she smiled at the sight, it was rare for Sasuke to smile. She sat upright, she wanted, no needed to protect that smile, she would get stronger to protect his smile, Sasuke who had calmed down looked around at Naruto with a confused expression, Naruto smile widened, Sasuke looked confused before giving a little 'hmf' and gave her a crooked smile before collapsing beside her. Both lay their for a few more seconds before Sasuke go up and suggested that they start training, Naruto nodded her head, both began sparing having to wait only minutes before a beaten-to-a-bloody-pulp Kakashi and a still fuming Sakura joined them. Out of the corner of his eye Kakashi spied the 'male' Shinobi giving a little smile leaving the curiosity of their friendship in the back of his mind.

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After training had finished Naruto walked back towards the far side of the village where not many people cross, the streets were almost deserted, she liked it that way, no one would glare at her or spit at her let alone try to hurt her. All the while not noticing two dark shadows moving out from behind her, following her every movement. Sasuke had followed Naruto home from training wanting to make sure the girl was safe, he glared at the villagers that glared and mocked her, but never once did he reveal himself. Up on the rooftops, Shikamaru peered down at the blond watching her walk through the trash infested streets, and entered an old rundown apartment complex. The lazy ninja gritted his teeth, clenching his fist in anger he failed to notice a chakra signature come up from behind him, "So you're the one following her" Shikamaru froze as he felt a kunai come in contact with his skin, "Sasuke" he replied in a calm voice he felt the kunai twitch.

"Intentions good or evil?"

"Does it look like I'm attacking her Uchiha?"

"tch"

Shikamaru smirked as he felt the blade pull away from his neck, turning around completely he came face to face with the raven haired boy. "So you know about that as well" Shikamaru nodded, a silence washed over them before Shikamaru broke it "I wonder, where do we go from here" he muttered, Sasuke sighed "Maybe we should try find out what's going on here, fucking genius" Shikamaru scowled at the comment muttering a troublesome "Don't think I haven't tried, brooding prick" He drawled in reply, Sasuke smirked "Maybe, you should try again, only this time you might have a better chance due to certain company" Shikamaru gave Sasuke a questioning look "Are you proposing we work together?" Sasuke muttered a curse under his breath "You figure it out, fucking genius" "Brooding prick" was the only reply Shikamaru gave before both started making plan on where they should meet, and how to go about uncovering the young blonds mysterious past. "We should find another area to do this who knows who could hear us" Sasuke nodded in agreement before both blurred out of view.

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Meanwhile in her room oblivious to her surroundings Naruto lay on her bed thinking about who it was helping her and why, **"Don't you think that if they had evil intentions they would have already contacted you in some way or form? And if they wanted to kill you they would have already tried that by now knowing who you are and all"** Naruto shook the Kyuubi out of her thoughts, **"Tch sorry for trying to help"** and retreated back into the darkness of the cage, Naruto groaned great now she had a annoyed demon fox to worry about. Naruto sighed thinking over Kyuubi's words, maybe they (whoever they were) are trying to help her, '_no, don't get your hopes up…still'_ Naruto sighed rolling over she closed her eye's, falling into a deep slumber.

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Meanwhile back with Sasuke and Shikamaru both males had finished their plans, "Okay, so we meet up at Area 'A', training ground 44, every fortnight at 9:00 pm starting from today (A/N: It's Friday)." Sasuke nodded in agreement, loud growls and ferocious roars could be heard from their surroundings, but neither male acknowledged it, due to it being a normal occurrence in the 'Forest of death'. "We should have limited to no contact with each other unless absolutely necessary" Sasuke went on, Shikamaru gave a sign saying he agreed when a thought struck him "And if an emergency situation arises? We should be able to have a way to contact each other." The raven haired boy furrowed his brows as he thought of a solution to the problem that arose, a bird called its screech echoed throughout the forest, both Shikamaru and Sasuke covered their sensitive ears at the sound, that's when it hit him "Will a bird do?" The lazy Shinobi looked back at Sasuke, "Will a bird do what?" Sasuke muttered curses under his breath, "Will a bird be suitable for contacting each other, fucking genius" Shikamaru ignored the comment, giving a lazy yawn "Depends on what type of bird we're talking about" Now it was Sasuke's turn to be confused "Type?" Shikamaru 'Tch'ed' in annoyance, "If we were to use a bird, it would have to be one that would not be mistaken for one of Konoha's messenger birds, yet at the same time we would need a bird that would not attract to much attention from anyone, one that is common in Konoha, you need to catch on faster brooding prick" Sasuke held back a growl and processed the information he had just gained, mulling the thought over he looked back up at the other dark figure across from him "My family had a bird sanctuary they took care of, it has a lot of Konoha's native birds there, they are all already trained and could be used whenever necessary"

Shikamaru nodded "Then we'll use one-" he was cut off by Sasuke who was once again smirking "Why just use one? I said all are trained" Shikamaru furrowed his brows in confusion before catching on to what the raven was proposing "So you want to use multiple birds instead of one, that way the same bird isn't used over and over to the point where someone notices and reports it" Sasuke nodded "glad you caught on this time fucking genius" Shikamaru smirked "Shame that I can't say the same to you, brooding prick" he said earning him a glare from the Uchiha. Both were shocked out of their little world when a distant roar echoed through the forest before a piercing shriek tore through the night's sky, both males stood up gathering their things they nodded to each other as a sign of farewell before they disappeared into the night, both intent on meeting each other the next full moon to solve the mystery that was lightly snoozing in her apartment.

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The next day Sasuke received a message to meet his team at the Hokage's tower to receive a mission, only what he found there was not what he was expecting. Climbing up the steps of the tower he knocked on the door waiting to receive permission to enter, once getting it he opened the door to find his team already waiting but as he looked to his right he spotted team ten. Scowling he looked over at Kakashi with a questioning look, Kakashi gave his usual one-eyed smile and said "Team seven and Ten both have a joint long term mission together" Sasuke's eye twitched, catching Shikamaru's eye both thought the same thing, this was going to be harder then they thought.

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**Well what do you think, should I quit writing this or should I continue?**

**Review and let me know or don't review either way I get my answer. **

**P.S. yes I know this chapter sucked no need to rub it in**

**Anyway **

**Ja ne for now**

**Shika XD**

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	4. Enemies Unknown

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto….*yawn***

**SORRY! I didn't update all holidays, and the chapters short as well….well enjoy the show and please don't kill me (*dodges shoe*)**

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The group found themselves walking along the dusty road away from their village, Shikamaru and Sasuke made no sign that they were about to talk to each other, while Sakura and Ino were fighting/fawning over a brooding Sasuke who took no notice that they existed. Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto were catching up on their experiences as ninja's while making little jokes and comments…well Chouji and Naruto were Shikamaru was just listening not bothered to do anything else. Meanwhile behind the genin Asuma and Kakashi found themselves in a deep discussion about the mission.

"That Oji-san that wanted the package delivered, do you think he was just overreacting about the mission status?" Asuma asked eyeing a medium sized package wrapped up in pink with a sky blue ribbon on it. "Hmm," Kakashi looked up from his porn novel and took a look at the box in his comrade's hands, "It's just a gift for his grand-daughter, unless it was something else or something that we haven't been filled in on, I think the oji-san was just over reacting." Kakashi stated going back to read his porn novel. "The most we can expect from this B-rank mission is bandits, Hokage-sama already out did himself by getting two teams for this mission as well as raise mission rank to a 'B'." Kakashi continued his voice quiet so the genin would not ears drop in on their conversation, yet even though being careful neither noticed two had already heard more then they should have. Neither did anything to notify the Jounin that they had heard, both allies kept walking down the road in silence.

It had been an hour since they had left Konoha and so far the trip was, to say the least, uneventful. Naruto sighed in boredom, Kyuubi did want to play with her let alone talk to her, so she had no way to escape the boredom, Shikamaru was walking with his hands behind his head and was gazing at the clouds, next to him was Chouji who munched away happily on his BBQ chips oblivious to the boredom around him. On the other side of the pathway Sasuke was still being pestered by Sakura and Ino who were continuously fighting over who 'their' Sasuke-kun loved. Sasuke although having a calm demeanour on the outside, inside his chibi was going mad, wishing for the banshees to stop their howling and get on with their lives. Suddenly a small light bulb appeared over chibi Sasuke's head, reaching down to who knows where, the chibi pulled out novelty sized earplugs and stuck them in his ears, leaving the real Sasuke to suffer.

Seeing his agitation Naruto somehow found her way around the screaming banshees and walked alongside Sasuke, who looked up from the ground in surprise when he felt her presence, Naruto gave him her grin which washed over her features, while Sasuke settled for a thankful smile, seeing the smile Chouji and Shikamaru stared in shock, while Naruto's smile only widened. Behind them Kakashi and Asuma looked on curiously, with that Naruto and Sasuke started one of their own 'conversations', (A/N: you know the ones where Sasuke insults Naruto and Naruto insults him back and they end up running in circles until Naruto finally lets up =D).

But despite all the arguing they generally had fun at what they did, Shikamaru glanced at the two shinobi every now and then, frowning at Sasuke whenever he touched Naruto. Noticing the action Kakashi giggled, while Asuma smirked. Shaking himself out of his trance Shikamaru went back to cloud watching trying to ignore Sasuke and Naruto's arguing, meanwhile it didn't take long for Ino and Sakura to be alerted of Naruto's presence (A/N: Who wouldn't they could probably be heard within a miles radius).Both girls shrieked the surrounding forests down at the young blond, who never backed down and shouted back her own insults at the pair, while silently signalling the raven haired boy to get away. Thankful for the opportunity, Sasuke slid back behind Kakashi and Asuma, both adults watched the scene unravel with amusement.

* * *

It wasn't until dusk fell upon them that they stopped and made camp, taking shelter in the trees, unfolding their tents and helping one another set it up the crawled into them and fell asleep almost immediately. Two pairs of onyx eyes shot open in the surrounding darkness and made their way out of the tents, making sure not to make a sound they disappeared out of the tents and both figures vanished into the trees. Returning only hours later their minds filled with dates, numbers, mappings, and history.

* * *

Daylight seeped into an open patch in the tent, sliding along the floor, across the blanket and hitting a sun-kissed cheek, three scars running down its sides, travelling further upwards resting upon the closed lid of brilliant azure eyes. Her features scrunched up as she peeked through her eye-lid, groaning as she realised she had to get up, changing before gathering her things she exited her tent to see Asuma and Kakashi already, muttering a sleepy "g'morning" to them both she made her way to a nearby stream.

Inside his tent Sasuke sat straight looking at a map of Konoha, studying it, memorizing every route it had (which is a lot), dark circles rested under his eyes, rubbing his eyes he inhaled deeply before releasing a sigh a putting away the map sealing it away into a scroll. Gathering his belongings he made his way down to the nearby stream, ignoring everyone in his surrounding environment as he went.

Snoozing in his bed, Shikamaru shifted in his sleep, a loose strand of his hair slipped down onto his face, tickling his nose. His features scrunched up as he raised a hand and swatted the piece away his hand dropped to his side like a dead weight, the same strand of hair fell onto his nose once more tickling him, ignoring it until he could ignore it no longer he sat up in frustration and moved the strand away from his face, satisfied he lay back down and went back into a deep sleep. A smile came across his features unconsciously as he dreamt of a young female who was full of life.

At the stream having finished washing up, Naruto gave her reflection a big grin, opening her eyes she noticed a figure behind her, turning her grin grew wider as she waved enthusiastically to Sasuke. The raven in turn rolled his eyes at her hyperactive-ness so early in the morning, "Ohaiyo Sasuke-teme!" She called, Sasuke just gave her a small smile, which she gladly returned with her grin.

Her smile faded when she saw the shadows under his eyes, "Eh? Sasuke? What's wrong?" The raven froze looking back he had his normal façade on

"What are you going on about dobe?" he turned away from her, washing his face in the stream, Naruto tried to get a peak at his face curiosity etched onto her visage "Hmm..? You look broodier then usual" Sasuke stopped mid-way from drying his face turning he gave Naruto a blank look muttering the word dobe he turned away from her again "'Broodier' isn't a word dobe" he sighed getting up.

Naruto frowned "It is too! You just haven't heard the word being used!"

"Maybe that's because it's not a word"

"It is too!"

"No it isn't dobe"

"Teme!"

"Dobe"

"Baka!"

"dobe"

"ha, you already said that teme! I win!"

"I didn't realise we were competing"

"Teme!"

"You already said that dobe, I win"

Sasuke turned and walked away, Naruto following closely at his heels yelling that he had cheated and that the argument didn't count. Sasuke just smirked at the blonds antics, all the while worried about the previous nights work. Neither noticed two pairs of eyes following the yelling blond as they exited the area.

* * *

Inside his tent Shikamaru was rudely awakened by, well what he thought was, two shrieking banshees, grudgingly exiting his tent he look around to find his sensei's trying to calm Sakura and Ino who were searching wildly for Sasuke, groaning he begrudgingly made his way back inside his tent to gather his things and made his way down to the river, knowing he would never get his much wanted and needed sleep. Making his way down to the stream the sleepy shinobi caught something moving in the corner of his eyes, not giving away any sign he had seen it he kept walking towards his destination. All the while discretely heightening his senses, tensing his muscles, and taking deliberate steps forward, another rustle, he kept walking.

His eyes widened however when he felt a large chakra source emit from behind him, who ever it was had to be a jounin whipping around kunai ready in hand, Shikamaru came face to face with a grinning Naruto, mentally cursing he quickly put the kunai away, hoping the blond didn't see it, sighing he took his lazed stance he drawled "What is it, Naruto-c..kun?" Naruto's grin only got wider not noticing the males slip up. The raven haired boy in front of her back away cautiously, Naruto only stepped forward each time he stepped back, suddenly disappearing Shikamaru's eyes widened as he found her breath tickling his throat as she said slyly "Shika-kun, can you help me with something, onegai?" the hair of the back of his neck stood on end as he repressed a shudder from running up and down his spine, Shikamaru gulped not trusting his voice he could only nod.

Naruto jumped back from him "Really?! That's great!" She exclaimed happily not noticing Shikamaru's heavy breathing as he tried to keep his hormones under control, damn it what was wrong with him?! His heart was racing like he had just run one thousand laps around Konoha with that crazy thick-eyebrow duo chasing him. He almost shuddered at the thought, regaining his composure he looked back at Naruto who was grinning happily, the raven sighed might as well get this over with "Come on, off to prank Sakura and Ino!" Shikamaru halted in his steps, no nonononononononononononononononononono, he never ever, ever does something troublesome and this came under the role of troublesome "No" he replied simply before turning to walk away, going down to the river Naruto followed the young male whining.

"But Shika-kun! You said you would" mentally cursing himself for his recklessness around the blond he bent down hovering above the stream while washing his face and refused Naruto who whined and called the shinobi names, Shikamaru's eye twitched really was that necessary? Naruto pouted turning away "Fine be that way, meanie!" the young male staggered in his step, he sighed walking back to the small blond he lay down next to her "What do you want me to do?" he sighed (he did that a lot around her) Naruto turned around her face shining, Shikamaru caught his breath when he found himself looking directly into her azure eyes, they seemed to glow the deep orbs of ocean blue.

Shikamaru turned away a heavy blush planted onto his face, "Eh? Shika-kun? What's wrong" Naruto asked innocently, Shikamaru's eye twitched again "Nothing, just tell me the plan already" Smiling again she nodded "Okay, but first we need to get Sasuke-teme and Cho-kun" the young male's eye found itself twitching, there goes their plan out the window. Shikamaru held back a shout of surprise as he was pulled forward by a running happy blond, sighing and having nothing else to do he let himself be pulled forward. This was going to be a long day…

* * *

**Sorry the chapter is so short everyone and sorry it was so uneventful…again *sweatdrop* Anyway votes for side pairings, I'm taking any, yuri, yaoi, whatever just vote and suggest any pairings.**

**Next chapter its all shock, disaster and fish…..wait, what? ;p just have to wait and see what I have in store for you guys**

**Anyway review and tell me if you like the latest chapter and what I can improve, I'll be happy to listen to any criticism you guys have =D**

**That's all for now ja ne**

**Shika XD**


	5. Wet Love?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, never will, never have. Sorry to all my fans….if I have any….(sweatdrop)**

**Before you kill me ear me out!.....uhm…if you kill me there will be no one to continue the story…??**

**Heh heh, yeah I got nothing…sorry for updating soooo late I'm really sorry don't kill me please….**

**On with the story**

**Enjoy!

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**

Shikamaru, Sasuke and Chouji fond themselves sitting in a line a grinning blond in front of them, he was bouncing up and down with excitement like a child on Christmas day. Chouji stuffed his face with his favourite flavoured bag of potato chips while looking on amused by the blonds' antics. Shikamaru and Sasuke on the other hand mentally cursed their luck at drawing attention to themselves, damn that blond and her cute personality and guilt trips!

Sasuke sighed "So what do we have to do?" If possible Naruto got more excited and started jumping up and down while explain the plan to the boys in front of her, whose faces got paler and paler with each passing second.

The plan was flawless, and very well thought out, the equipment they needed was all their, but over-all what scared them were the awaiting pmsing females. All three shuddered as Naruto bounced up and down while saying

"And then we all run like hell when Sakura and Ino come to murder us!" She finished off grandly,

Okay…so the plan wasn't as flawless as they originally thought.

Shikamaru sighed muttering how troublesome the bonds that appear in his life are, Sasuke tried to glare a hole through Naruto's head, who in turn to their reactions shrunk back a bit laughing nervously.

Chouji however considered her words before he nodded to himself and got up from where he sat and patted Naruto on the shoulder as well as saying with a bright smile "Well you can count on me to help you, Naruto"

The bundle of sunshine glanced up at the boy blankly before her face upturned into a massive grin, enveloping the boy into a bone crushing hug "Arigatou Chou-kun!" Chouji looked confused but awkwardly returned the hug anyway, but felt an odd chill go up and down his spine as he did. Noticing the shiver Naruto tilting her head to the side gave the boy a confused look, "Chou-kun? What's wrong?" the boy shrugged "I dunno I just got an odd chill go down my spine, like something bad was going to happen" he explained unsurely.

"Huh…that's weird"

Chouji nodded in agreement, chatting animatedly both genin set off down the path they came to gather the equipment they needed, all the while they didn't notice the seething Sasuke and Shikamaru who were both glaring holes into Chouji's back.

"Can we kill him" Sasuke asked his hand twitching and inching closer to his kunai pouch. Shikamaru breathed out through his nose shaking his head from side to side.

"No, unfortunately, it would raise suspicion amongst the group, and we would be drawing attention to ourselves" he replied still staring after the big boned child, Sasuke clenched his fists but nodded all the same.

"Tch….what'd you have to bring that fucking genius head of your's everywhere you go?"

Shikamaru gave Sasuke a wide smirk "To keep brooding bastards like you in line, I thought that would have been obvious, or is that you can't keep up with my genius mind?"

The raven ducked as Sasuke took a swipe at Shikamaru's head with his kunai, only managing to escape the blade by millimetres, Shikamaru gave the boy another smirk of triumph, before his smirk fell to be replaced by a blank stare as he felt his hair fall out around him, his hair-tie fall gracefully to the floor. Giving the raven an annoyed look he asked

"Was the really necessary, that was my favourite hair-tie"

Sasuke gave the boy a sadistic grin, twirling the kunai in his hand he walked away towards the retreating figures of Naruto and Chouji, leaving the lazy genin muttering curses as he tried to fix the broken hair-tie on the floor. Suddenly both raven haired boys froze in place as they felt a foreign chakra spike throughout the wilderness before disappearing without a trace. Ebony eyes exchanged glances; mentally nodding to each other the two genin turned and continued their way out of the forest.

* * *

When the group had reached camp they had found Sakura and Ino sitting on separate logs waiting anxiously for 'their' precious "Sasuke-kun" to return to their side, while next to them were their sensei's who were chatting humorously about a very descriptive scene in Kakashi's…uhm (cough) …novel. Shikamaru had to keep a smirk from creeping into his features as the twin banshee's had clamped onto either side of Sasuke's arms as soon as he came into view. Chouji simply watched the scene amused all the while he still held his bag of BBQ potato chips and munched on happily and Naruto crossed her arms pouting in an annoyed manner, not happy at all that her adopted older brother was being taken away from her.

Kakashi giggled along with Asuma when the blond gave her reaction (A/N: of course they don't know that Naruto is a girl XP), and went on about the discussion being held before the commotion. It wasn't until hours later when the genin were in their tents and the jounin were on guard duty that they discussed the possible causes of the chakra spike earlier on in the morning.

* * *

It was midnight when Asuma had woken Shikamaru and Ino to take second watch, Shikamaru had reluctantly gotten up and out of the tent, sitting on the dusty ground he leaned against the large log behind him, watching his team mate exit her tent a large yawn on her face. A cool night's breeze made Ino shiver as she sat down next to the raven haired genin, neither said a word yet still acknowledged each other's presence, their surroundings were quiet except for the occasional 'hoots' of owls and the distant screeches of bats out for their midnight meals. Finally fed up with the silence the blond turned to her team mate

"Do you have your shogi board here with you?"

Shikamaru turned giving the girl a blank stare at the random question but nodded all the same, "You want to play?"

Ino huffed "Nothing better to do is their? Might as well pass the time like this"

Shikamaru nodded getting up he entered his tent only to return holding a flat shogi board in both hands, the pieces already into position, laying the board in front of them, the game started.

(three hours later)

Score:

Ino – 0

Shikamaru – 22

The blond howled in frustration

Correction…23

Shikamaru sighed, he knew this was going to be a bad idea, it wasn't that Ino was bad at the game, she just lacked the patience.

"Why are you so smart!?"

The raven sweatdropped as he watched the female in front of him rage on about boredom and IQ's. All too suddenly the blond stood up, curling her hands into fists and stamping her foot she cried out

"That's it I'm going to bed, do the bloody watch yourself!"

Before stomping off towards her tent, now being in a forest there'd have to be stray twigs and rocks hidden in the dirt and foliage. Unfortunately for Ino who had little to no experience with the outdoor life she didn't think it necessary to look where she was walking which wasn't such a good idea as she suddenly found herself falling clenching her eyes shut she waited for impact with the hard cool earthen floor below.

THUD!

Who knew the ground could be so soft, yet at the same time rock hard….wait the earth didn't wear a fishnet shirt. Yelping, Ino scrambled away from Shikamaru who was picking himself up muttering things about troublesome and bothersome blonds as well as rubbing the back of his head where he fell. Blushing crimson, Ino said a hurried 'goodnight' before disappearing into her tent far faster then she had shown in any sort of training. Shikamaru sighed tiredly as her watched after her, all the while not noticing the pair of azure eyes which had seen the scene play out, before disappearing.

* * *

Naruto snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag and buried her head further into the pillow. She could hear distant voices calling to her telling her t wake up, she ignored them, it was cold and her bed was too comfy and warm. Damn that annoying buzzing voice, she buried herself deeper into her sleeping bag

"DAMN IT DOBE, WAKE UP!"

Naruto shot up searching around wildly "What?! Where's the fire?!"

Sasuke's eye twitched "I'll show you were the fire is" Before Naruto could comprehend what was happening, Sasuke had already gone through all the hand seals, and Naruto found herself facing one of the biggest fireballs she had ever seen. Sprinting out of the tent, she dived, sprawling to the ground just as the fireball flew out above her. Once the fireball disappeared Naruto turned and glared at the male figure which exited the tent, growling Naruto dived at the raven slamming him into the tent, both rolled around scratching, punching, kicking and at one point biting.

Sakura and Ino took it upon themselves to cheer on Sasuke who was too busy engrossed in the 'battle' to notice or care about what the two banshee's were screaming about. While everyone else looked on with sweat drops planted on top of there heads, finally having enough Shikamaru muttered another troublesome he called out to the two genin, walking up to them he kicked Sasuke which earned him an earful from the female genin and a yelp from Sasuke

"We have a job to do, or did you forget?"

Sasuke glared at the shinobi before him before grabbing the nearby pale of water they had used to douse the fire and sprayed the contents all over Shikamaru. The pineapple head stood eyes closed a vain throbbing atop his head, gritting his teeth Shikamaru tackled the other sending them sprawling to the ground. Naruto watched at the sidelines laughing at the raven pair, Kakashi giggled amused by the sudden turn of events, Ino and Sakura turned their anger onto Shikamaru, while Chouji and Asuma did know whether to stop the fight or wait till it died out.

"SHIKAMARU-BAKA, GET OFF OF MY SASUKE-KUN!"

"YOUR SASUKE-KUN, HE'S MINE!"

"IN YOUR DREAMS, MAYBE FOREHEAD GIRL"

"INO-PIG!!"

Naruto turned towards them brows knitted in confusion, "Ne, Ino-san?"

"WHAT?!"

Naruto looked on unfazed by the bout of anger directed towards her "Shouldn't you be cheering Shikamaru on considering what happened last night"

The whole area went quiet and then suddenly Ino's whole face burned bright red, Shikamaru, had a tint of pink placed onto his features. Kakashi almost dropped his book at how the situation was playing out, why oh why didn't he stay up last night? Asuma looked horrified tat something might of happened at all, he had experienced first hand how scary a protective mother is towards her child, and if anything did happen he would have two down his throat. Chouji had by now dropped his bag of chips his mouth gapping wide open at the thought of his two teammates doing 'H' things, while Sasuke's features gave away nothing, however looking into his eyes you would see a tinge of relief in them.

Sakura regained her composure and blurted out towards Ino "What happened last night?!" Her eyes shining with little stars, Ino if possible turned a darker shade of red then before "Nothing happened!! I have no idea what that baka" she pointed to Naruto, which gave her two annoyed looks and one blank one "Is talking about!"

Naruto put a finger to her lips before pursing them "Huh, that's weird, I could have sworn I saw you two on top of each other"

Asuma someow managed to choke on his spit, Chouji choked on the potato chips still in his mouth, Kakashi giggled pervertedly with a blush on his face, while Sakura and Ino blushed crimson altogether but for completely different reasons. The two ravens however sighed, Sasuke and Shikamaru knew Naruto had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and misunderstood a certain situation. Naruto hearing the pair sigh turned around to find Sasuke on top of Shikamaru

"Oi Sasuke-teme if you stay in that position you and Shikamaru will get Ino and Sakura jealous"

Sasuke and Shikamaru kept up their cool front until Shikamaru did something completely unexpected…

Pulling the other raven down into an embrace, so now Shikamaru was on the ground, Sasuke lying in his chest, his arms wrapped around the Uchiha. "What's so bad about other people being jealous of us?" he asked in a low husky voice, a sly smile on his features.

Ino and Sakura gushed a mound of blood from their noses before passing out on the floor, Sasuke and Shikamaru stared at the pair incuriously before turning to see a paled Asuma passed out on the floor with Kakashi next to him poking him with a stick. Chouji soon followed shortly after that. Sasuke turned to Shikamaru and whacked the male on the head

"Now look what you did"

"I got rid of the banshees didn't I?"

"Tch, and created a whole new problem while you were at it"

Both ravens glared at each other for a little while longer before Naruto decided to interfere

"Uhm, guys….you're still on top of each other"

Sasuke and Shikamaru looked down at themselves before separating so fast the sound of them separating came afterwards. Kakashi made his way over towards Naruto, putting an arm around the blond he said in a sly voice "Maa, Naru-chan we should give these guys some time alo-" however he was never able to finish the sentence as a bucket came flying out of no where and hitting the Jounin square on the head effectively knocking him out.

This time it was Shikamaru who smacked the other over the head,

"Now what are we supposed to do, he was the only Jounin left in charge" Shikamaru grumbled annoyed. Sasuke gaped "As if you were going to let him get away with that!" Sasuke argued

Naruto took it upon herself to grab Chouji's fallen packet of chips and seat herself in front of the two bickering males munching happily on her breakfast, it was everyday that you got breakfast and a show.

* * *

**Okay so I got no where with this chapter except give you a bunch of humour that will stay humour! No major Yaoi pairings in this story guys sorry!**

**Anyway hoped you liked it! I'll be sure to update sooner and actually get somewhere with the story next time, I'll allow you to virtually hit me if I don't…No hostage situations though!!**

**(Cough) moving on review and tell me what you think!**

**Until next time! **

**Shika XD**


	6. Chapter 6

Hey people!

No this isn't an update, I know I haven't updated in a while and you're probably going too have to wait a bit longer, my trials are in a couple of weeks and after that I've got my HSC (FML .) anyway moving on. I have a couple of things to do after my HSC as well, so I might not get to update at all for the rest of the year. HOWEVER that does not mean that this story is a deadfic, has been abandoned, or is up for adoption but is simply on a long hiatus.

To all my fans sorry for not updating and I promise to get a chapter as soon as I can to everyone else have a happy (very early) summer holiday.

**Shika XD**

_P.s. To all those who are fans of my short Shika/FemNaru one-shots I'll try and get your requested story up (I realise I haven't written one in a while now). Anyway that's all for now_

_Ja ne._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not, will not, have not and will never own Naruto…no matter how much I try…..I'm tired.**

**o.0 OMG…I'm updating! Woah! How long has it been? A year? Maybe a year and a half? **

**Yeah…I'm speechless…**

**Enjoy!**

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It had taken an hour to calm the two ravens down and another two hours for everyone to wake up. All of them, apart from Kakashi, had awoken with heavy blushes brushing their cheeks; although they disappeared when the group saw Shikamaru leaning under a tree asleep and Sasuke finishing his breakfast a little way away from Shikamaru and listening to the blonde sunshine, who was talking animatedly about…well nothing and everything.

It was a while later after everyone had settled, packed the equipment, had breakfast and in Sakura and Ino's case went to 'freshen up' that they were all back on the road again, Kakashi carrying the package comfortably under his arm.

Sighing Naruto skipped on ahead eager to search her surroundings, Sasuke kept her within the field of his vision, not trusting the yawning genin beside him to do the same. Chouji had happily taken to Naruto's company, and was surveying the area, looking upon passing butterflies with much interest.

Chouji spied his raven-haired friend from the corner of his eye while explaining to Naruto butterflies habits during the four seasons. Chouji was by no means any kind of prodigy nor was he below average in his skills as a genin, he had no special skills besides those passed down from his clan.

However if there was one thing Chouji was skilled at, it was being aware of the events taking place around him and one thing he noticed was the odd behaviour of both his male team mate and the Uchiha. He also noticed the cause of their odd behaviour, and it seemed to be centred on a young blond male, who was seemingly oblivious to it all.

He was confused at his friends' sudden interest in the blond, and his sudden familiarity towards the other raven haired genin. It did not make any sense to him, questions were bolting off the walls of his mind and the more he observed the more questions were left unanswered. Chouji continued to watch his friend before turning away, if or when Shikamaru was ready, he would tell him until that time he would wait patiently and watch from the sidelines.

Taking comfort in that fact, Chouji shifted his attention back to said blonde who was listening in wonder at his knowledge of butterflies.

Sakura and Ino were mostly quiet, which everyone was thankful for, although Sakura was attempting to get the bleach blond to tell her what had happened the night before, unknown to both of them Kakashi was listening into the conversation also eager to find out what had happened.

Shikamaru who had noticed this gave a quiet snort and rolled his eyes, stretching, he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. Not pausing in his actions he gave nothing away as discretely searched his surroundings opening his five senses, and quietly alerted Sasuke to do the same.

Both carefully surveyed their surroundings and using the codes they had formulated in earlier nights during their meetings, they transmitted information to each other on the intruders.

'Five. Intruders.'

'All. Shinobi.'

'Three?. Chūnin. Level'

'Affirmative. Jōnin . Level. Two'

'Missing-Nin? Country?'

'Unknown. Reason?'

'…Gift…?'

'…Possible. Test'

The other raven catching on to Shikamaru's movements left his company and moved closer to his blond team mate and her companion. Sasuke grabbed hold of a kunai and started playing with it when he pulled it out of his pouch, as if daring the intruders. He knew it was stupid to provoke the enemy into combat however…it was a while since he had fun, of course, he could not reveal his true abilities but it would still satisfy him to watch others fall, he did after all live on others' misery.

The blond noticing her team mate gave him a wide smile radiating nothing but happiness and obliviousness to the world around her. It was the one thing that Sasuke envied the girl for, being able to be so oblivious to the danger that surrounds her, to be able to keep the innocence, that had long ago been stolen from him, even though her situation was far darker then his.

Crushing his thoughts into oblivion, he gave a silent smile back in her direction, before leaving the blonde-haired person to her happy thoughts and turning his attention to the five enemy shinobi surrounding them. Quickly glancing out of the corner of his eye at the two-jounin instructors behind them he noticed there tensed stances and focused minds.

Although, you would not have been able to notice if you did not know them, both conveniently separated. Asuma had come up front smoothly joining Ino and Sakura's conversation, his hand moving animatedly as he explained something; however, Sasuke spied the other hand, which slithered down towards his kunai pouch.

Kakashi caught Sasuke's eye before glancing down at the weapon in the boys hand, the raven gave his sensei gave a devilish smirk before averting his attention towards the five shinobi. Sasuke saw Shikamaru adopted his usual 'can't-be-bothered' stance, and yet knew the Nara was toying with the weapons strapped to his thighs through the holes in his pockets.

Naruto suddenly left her conversation with Chouji and fell back with Kakashi loudly greeting his sensei with a wide grin; Kakashi was oblivious to the girls true objective gave his own smiles back at the 'innocent' genin. The same was to be said for every other member in the squad; Contrary to what they all thought, Naruto was not oblivious to her surroundings and was more then capable to tell when an enemy ninja was nearby. Moreover, if her own senses failed her she could always count of Kyuubi to help her out, it was an added bonus that all these years of hurt that she had become a stunningly good actress.

Due to this fact, no one saw her hand slowly make its way up the sleeve of her jumpsuit and finger the sharpened kunai that lay beneath. Her form tensed ever so slightly and her senses focused entirely on the surrounding area. Sasuke who had turned back to see why Naruto had fallen back found her innocently smiling up at Kakashi and turned around again facing ahead of him again. If Naruto was with their Jōnin sensei then she would be fine, the man was more then capable of taking care of someone else in battle.

Chouji did not know what the situation was but recognised his friend and Sensei's tensed postures, so he mentally and cautiously made ready for battle. Through all this two female genin remained oblivious.

Only seconds later that the assailants struck, the clearing was suddenly surrounded by clouds of thick smoke. Sakura and Ino gasped and froze in shock unprepared for the sudden attack, while everyone else immediately sprung to action, Naruto whipped out her kunai blocking an oncoming attack approaching from her left and swiped at the Chūnin's front before sending a chakra enhanced punch towards him.

The Chūnin easily evaded the attack moving to the blonds left and blocked the side thrust kick aimed for his head. Firmly grabbing hold of her leg he intended to snap it, however the genin acted before him and used the other shinobi's strong hold as a lever to successfully preform a front flip over the Chūnin after twisting her leg free from grip. Quickly turning to face her opponent again, she blocked another oncoming attack with her kunai, letting the battle ensue from there.

Sasuke heightened his senses and made his way towards his Jōnin sensei that was carrying the package meant for delivery. Skilfully dodging the two passing Chūnin and Jōnin, he dashed past Asuma and co, instead choosing to focus his attention on the remaining two enemies making a beeline for the Copy-Cat Ninja. By the time he got there, the Jōnin and Kakashi were already ensued in a heated battle, the gift placed securely in his weapons pouch. Meanwhile Naruto and the Chūnin were also in a battle of their own, both shinobi were matched in their skill and neither was getting the advantage over the other. Choosing to help the blond Sasuke blocked an oncoming attack Naruto hadn't seen and sent a roundhouse kick at the enemy who dodged and moved back out of Sasuke's and Naruto's attack range carefully assessing them both.

Naruto gave Sasuke a pout for his efforts, before sending a glare at the Chūnin, Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the blonds childishness and averted her attention back to the, once more, attacking shinobi.

Shikamaru speedily assessed the situation with an odd glint in his eyes; he saw Sasuke and Naruto annihilating their opponent off to his right, not far from them Kakashi was doing the same with his, only at a slower pace. Over to his left he saw Asuma desperately trying to hold back the attack of a Jōnin and protect the remaining genin at the same time. He saw the pink and blond kunoichi feebly throwing off their opponents attacks, while Chouji was left to fend for himself. Sighing the young shinobi wasted no time in reaching his destination, and, without revealing too much of his abilities, started pushing back the enemy with Asuma and Chouji.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ino and Sakura working together in beating their opponent. In a matter of minutes the Konoha shinobi had defeated their opponents, securely tying them up. Most of them were unconscious, the shinobi that weren't were simply moaning in pain.

Kakashi and Asuma were breathing a bit harshly from their battles but otherwise were calm and composed, already glaring down the prisoners.

"Shikamaru-kun…why don't you take the group over to the side and get patched up?" Asuma said, he stated his sentence as a question but the genin knew it was a command more then anything else. Nodding, the lazy shinobi took an exhausted looking Chouji by the arm and led him away from the captured group and their Jōnin instructors.

Ino and Sakura followed without complaint, while Naruto and Sasuke lagged behind, Naruto babbling away about how awesome she was for taking down a Chūnin until Sasuke reminded her of his hand in the battle, making the girl stomp away childishly Sasuke's smirk drilling into her back.

While the group walked away the two Jōnin instructors turned back to the group in front of them, their eyes steeled over with nothing but a glimmer promising pain.

'_Time to get information'_

Shikamaru glanced back at captured group, all the while patching Chouji up '_They're Iwa-nin, that much is obvious_' he thought looking at their headbands.

'_But they're obviously not after the present…_' He pondered on the situation for a few more minutes before almost growling in frustration.

'_Why would they risk an outright war with Konoha, just to attack a group of Konoha shinobi? We're not even on their territory for goodness sake, if anything I would say they were trespassing on us!_' Shikamaru sighed in frustration before deciding to see if he cold eavesdrop on the miniature interrogation.

Shikamaru strained his ears so badly he thought they might quite literally fall off and still all he managed to hear was a few jumbled words, not making that much sense to him.

"Get….Yondaime's….bastards….Konoha…..downfall….protect forever…."

Yet judging from the serious expressions of his mentors, it made a whole lot of sense to them and was obviously a great problem.

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head "Too troublesome for you, Shikamaru-kun?"

Said shinobi snapped out of his thoughts at the familiar voice, he shot a lazy smile at the other "Ma, just a bit."

Chouji just chuckled and offered to do the rest, leaving Shikamaru to his thoughts.

* * *

Later that night after they had set camp once more, Shikamaru and Sasuke had met up to discuss the day's earlier events.

A thoughtful silence engulfed the both of them when they had finished sharing what they knew, both analysing the new information and trying to fit the new pieces of information with what they already knew.

"Okay, so we definitely know that the assailants were not after the present; and in all honesty why would they be? I mean what on earth could you give a 5 year old that is so valuable that a shinobi would want it so badly as to risk his life for it?"

Shikamaru just gave a nod at Sasuke's words before letting the raven continue.

"But according to what you heard during the interrogation, our best guess is to assume that they were targeting someone in our group."

Shikamaru spoke up this time "That's not our problem though; our real problem is to figure out _who_ they were targeting."

"But this still doesn't make much sense," Sasuke furrowed his brow in concentration "You said the prisoner had mentioned the words 'Yondaime', 'Konoha', 'downfall' and 'protect forever'. The last words fit with our notion of the enemy attempting to kidnap one of our team mates and I suppose we can assume that the enemy was hoping to cause the 'downfall' of 'Konoha'. However, the words just don't seem to fit together."

Shikamaru sighed, "You're overlooking something, brooding prick"

The Uchiha's eye twitched in irritation at the name "Oh? And what's that, fucking genius?"

Shikamaru settled for giving the other a lazy smirk "Your sensei."

The other opened his mouth to retort, yet closed it again at the unexpected answer, confused the genin could only stare at the other quizzically "Kakashi-sensei…?"

Shikamaru's eyes suddenly held a more serious glint in them "Hai, I don't know if you are aware of this but your sensei was a student of our Yondaime Hokage."

Sasuke's eyes widened a little in surprise, "Kakashi-sensei is…?"

Shikamaru nodded the smirk, once again, planted on his features, Sasuke processed the information carefully before replying "But now you're overlooking something fucking genius…how does capturing Kakashi-sensei lead towards the downfall of Konoha?"

Both students paused unable to answer the question. It was a few minutes later that they both said there goodnight's and went back to their respected tents, both minds still at work trying to figure out what the Iwa-nin were aiming to do.

* * *

**Another chapter done!**

**Hope you all stick around for the next one…which I have no idea when I will be getting out…*innocent smile***

**Hope you enjoyed this one!**

**I had a lot of trouble writing it, I don't know why, I've had writers block for what seems like ages now. If any of you have been keeping up with my other stories you would know that I haven't updated any of them either. **

**Well tell me what you all think**

**Hope you liked it! Review!**

**Ja ne! Shika XD**


	8. Authors Note

**Okay I realise I haven't updated in god knows how long, but unfortunately my laptop has recently crashed, halfway through writing my stories. I've been told the motherboard of my laptop has given out, but thankfully everything I've got saved on the laptop is still there and attainable, I just need to get everything saved onto a harddrive and then transfer it all onto my new computer. Bad news is that I won't be getting a new computer until well into February due to my phone also getting smashed and my needing to save up for a new one.**

**You're all probably thinking why not just use the computer you're on now, well that's because it's not my computer, it belongs to someone else and because I don't have any of my stories with me, so I just want to tell you guys all of this because, even though I haven't updated these stories are NOT abandoned. They're just temporarily on hold.**

**Until the next time**

**Shika**

**P.s. I want to give my sincere apologies to kuroishuuha especially, I know you've been looking forward to my update, but this is making it near impossible for me. Once again really sorry.**


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